Throughout history, the role of women in society has transformed drastically. From primarily being the caretaker in the family, to working in factories using their domestic skills to now being the bread winners in some families, women have evolved into strong members contributing to society in many different aspects.
However, like many minority groups in the U.S, they still struggle to move up the corporate ladder regardless of their qualifications or achievements. The glass ceiling in the work place has been something that has be visited and revisited as throughout time as more and more women try to establish themselves in the workplace. But ways to shatter the barrier is still something women struggle to find solutions for and even support from their male counterparts that rule the work sector in many fields.
Since the glass ceiling is invisible, it makes it hard to prove that such a road block does exist for women. What then becomes a challenge is shattering the unseen barrier and getting out of the web of discrimination faced by many.
As in the case of the recent firing of Carol Bartz, the former CEO of Yahoo. Media reported she was fired because she couldn’t revitalize the the online company. However, there has been debate over whether or not sexism played a role in her employment termination. Bartz was criticized for using foul language in public and presenting an “unlady” like image but what about all the male CEO’s who have done the same? In a corporate world, such behavior by men is much more tolerated than women doing the same. It doesn’t hurt their reputation as much and men are far less likely to be scrutinized than a woman would be in the same executive role.
Subjective reasoning will always favor one argument over the other, but in the end, women still find themselves outnumbered by men who get the top notch jobs in companies. Whether or not women will ever be able to carve out a permanent, impressionable place in a male dominated field is yet to be determined.
Video: Glass Ceiling Documentary